Plane day - Georgina sends a batty parcel to Carlo.
April 20-21, 1972
July 2026 I’m sitting here on my deck in South Durras looking out over the very still trees and gearing up to meet my young self again . I’ve collected twigs for tonight’s fire, got dressed (not in that order) and can put it off no longer. It does take a bit of nerve I find. Not sure why.
Thursday 20 April 1972
School and hospital visits Plane day! We got lots of letters and amazingly ! the box. Grant’s delighted
A box of our stuff had been wandering the world since we arrived almost three weeks ago.
Also two remote connections of Georgina’s are staying until the Saturday plane [to Tahiti]. They are Irish and he works for UNESCO in Montevideo and is at the big conference going on in Santiago now.
It’s been a full day. We set out this morning at about ten and called in at LAN to find out the cost of going to Peru, then went to the school to drop off some books at Sergio Rapu.
In Peru we planned to try and find what actually happened to the islanders who were kidnapped from the island in 1888. Where did they go? Had any trace remained? In fact it proved to be a very sad story with official attempts to make amends ultimately making it worse.
I decided to visit the school today We had been given a hard boiled egg (in the queue) at the co-operative and I settled down to give it to Mungo at the school, but the minute we did the bell rang and hordes of kids rushed out and circled us and reduced Mungo to hysterics. They were finally shooed away by teachers with branches and leaves plucked from the garden.
After that we went to see the matron at the hospital, called Nora. She told us lots of interesting things – firstly that she has to overcome a lot of hostility and nervousness because people are terrified of leprosy being found in their homes. She can only visit as a guest and not a nurse. She confirmed that breastfeeding is uncommon (because people can’t, (even though they want to) and the importance of milk was disregarded. Bronchial troubles are common amongst babies but there is little diarrhea despite a lack of sterilization. Babies are generally healthy and over the normal weight with no malnutrition. Contraception is freely available and includes the pill (popular), the coil (unpopular) and a monthly injection which is gaining in popularity. There is a six monthly one in Santiago. Hysterectomies and sterilization are available too when mothers have had about ten children.
Most babies are born out of wedlock but what this really means I don’t know. A lot of single girls have babies I know but I think her (the matron’s) “illegitimate” means babies born in stable unions but unmarried. Must check that.
How evocative of another time “out of wedlock”seems now!
The food regimen that she gave us was one recommended in Chile. I doubt if it is totally accepted. One interesting fact – she said that a greater proportion of women accepted contraception here than on the mainland. Flexibility of attitude again? She has given me permission to copy from her records next Tuesday.
Last night the storm that had been brewing for two days really broke, with lashing rain that got in from all the nooks and crannies. The lights went out and all the children were scared until we got a candle going. Some roofs had blown off this morning. I felt very insecure as the rain smacked down onto the roof here.
We met the plane today after eating some pork soup and I said hallo to Maria who is to marry an Australian and her tjoothless old mum who always greets me like a daughter.
So many people are called Maria. It is confusing even for me now. I wish I had got into the nickname system used by islanders but because I was collecting genealogical information which required first name followed by father’s and then mother’s surname to form family trees, acquisition of that useful knowledge fell by the wayside.
Carlo got an extraordinary parcel from Georgina with all sorts of useless things in it like rice and bread which we can get here. But it did have two bottles of Pisco (a third broke) and some fruit and nice cigarettes for Carlo.
We went down to the co-operative this evening and bought sausage and peaches and pears because they’ll all be gone tomorrow. All around Alvarez [Chilean shop] were kids reading comics fresh off the plane and there was a thoroughly happy atmosphere everywhere.
Friday April 21 1972
I planned to go out with the two Irish tourists today on a tour of the island but Mana Ika’s truck broke down and they didn’t go with him so I didn’t go.
I went to the ECA and bought four cans of condensed milk and one of crema, a Nescafe and 10 jugos. I talked to various people there and was pleased at communicating more than usual.
Carlo has been fussing around like an old hen today and we’ve been getting on each others’ nerves a bit. He can’t decide whether to treat me like the visitors and wait on me or to expect me to do all sorts of things as the woman of the house. If he didn’t get so fed up with the way I did things I would do more. As it is he brings my food and lets me get my own coffee. I don’t know. It’s all so confusing. I yearn for the peace of my own place, however grotty.
Mungo has been squawking away for the last couple of hours and has thoroughly worn me out. Grant is so bloody imperious about his work not being disturbed and us, Mungo and I, having to go back to Australia if Mungo keeps playing up. Grant never for one minute considers doing anything to help me.
This afternoon we went to visit the man who controls the waterworks. He gave us a long talk on them and showed us the well and the chlorinator. His wife is a nice chubby lady and gave us chocolates and three eggs for Mungo. They have lots of hens around their place and they have a real live oven in the kitchen. Mungo was very good and rolled about on the polished wood floor because it was so nice and clean.
I noticed a child of about 2 with a pacifier in the ECA today. One of the ones Alvarez (Chilean shopkeeper) imports. Two people so far have asked me why I don’t have cigarettes on my shopping list. Everyone smokes here, it seems.
Carlo’s latest piece of childcare information is that I shouldn’t take Mungo out so much. He needs more quiet. (Like hell he does). It is raining now.
This morning the water went off by mistake. Some idiot at the waterworks turned the valve off and forgot to turn it on. Carlo fluttered about and black water came out of the taps for a bit.
We called in at the registry office today because we heard there was to be a wedding of two Austrians and wondered what their story was. Georgina’s cousin, who runs the bar and a man I don’t know were witnesses. Otherwise no-one was there except these two bright eyed little Chileans (as it turned out) who wanted to get married. We didn’t stay for the ceremony because Grant didn’t want to. I thought him somewhat rude to leave.
We posted vast numbers of letters.